Material unloading system



, F. DE YOUNG MATER IAL UNLOADING SYSTEM Aug. 12, 1941.

Filed 001;. 26, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fly VE/Y 70/? FRANK DEYOUNG HTT'Y.

Aug; 12, 1941. F. DE YOUNG MATERIAL UNLOADING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 26, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f/Yl/E/Y TOR I FRANK DEYouNG,

Patented Aug. 12, 1941 2,251,990 MATERIAL UNLOADING SYSTEM Frank De Young, Chicago, 111. Application October 26, 1939, Serial No. 301,465

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a new and improved material unloading system.

An object of the invention is to provide a new and improved material unloading system which is particularly adapted for the handling of coal though not necessarily so limited.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved combination of parts which makes for the efficient unloading of coal and loading it into a truck or conveying it to any desired location which requires a minimum of effort, apparatus and power.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved pit and control mechanism for controlling the feeding of coal dumped from a car into a conveyor or other receptacle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved conveyor or receptacle.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novel features and combinations being set forth in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the system of my invention and apparatus capable of carrying out my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the pit and associated apparatus forming a feature of my invention;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is seen a pair of rails ll) on which a car, such as a coal car ll preferably of the open or gondola type, is adapted to rest and to discharge coal therefrom by means of bottom discharging gates which are well-known in this type of coal car; that is, the coal car I I is preferably of the hopper type having a bottom gate or gates which may be controlled to discharge the coal on the car tracks and the area adjacent thereto particularly the area between the car tracks.

Positioned directly below the car tracks or rails I is a pit l2 preferably formed of a monolith of poured concrete and having a pair of parallel side walls [3, [3. As clearly seen by reference to Fig. 1 of the drawings, I provide an elevating type of conveyor I4 which has a substantially horizontal material receiving portion l5 adapted to extend between the side walls l3, I3 of the pit l2 and having material guide plates 6 adja n e lateral edge adapted to fit fairly close to the walls I3, l3 to prevent spillage of material.

It is evident that any material received in the receiving portion [5 of the conveyor will be conveyed by the conveying mechanism thereof which is preferably in the form of scraper type flights which scrape the material overa trough bottom and deliverit at an elevated position to a truck or other receptacle ill, the material such as coal being seen at l8 in Fig. 1 of the drawings. It is of course evident that theconveyor It may discharge to any other receptacle or to a storage pile, but it is particularly adapted to elevate the coal and discharge into a relatively high bodied truck,

and in order to do this the flights on the endless conveyor mechanism are relatively high, for example, they may have a height of 3%", since the slope of the conveyor boom is relatively steep.

With a flight of this type it is necessary to prevent the weight of the coal as dumped from the car ll being received directly onto the re ceiving portion i5 for this weightis so great that the flights of the conveyor l4 would be torn loose or destroyed in a very short time; It is therefore necessary 'to control the feeding of the coal into the receiving portion at a controllable rate so as to preclude any damage to the conveyor illunder conditions as above described. 7

In order to effect this controlled feeding of the material receiving portion l5, the pit i2 is provided with a horizontally positioned variable size slide valve N. The slide valve l9 comprises a pair of angle members 2%, (see Fig. .3) positioned adjacent the bottom flanges of the rails Ill, ill between which extend a pair of stationary plates 2! and 22 (see Fig. 4) which are rigidly attached as by welding to longitudinally extending bars 23, 23 welded to the upright flanges of angle members 20, 20.

Slidable beneath the bottoms of the bars 23, 23 and on the horizontal flanges of the angle members 20, 20 is a movable plate 24 to which is attached an operating rack 25 operable by a pinion 26 carried by a shaft 2'l which is journaled in bearings 28, 28 rigidly attached to the stationary plate 22. The shaft 2i is connected by a universal joint 29 to an operating shaft 30 which carries an operating lever or hand wheel 3! which is located at a remote position with respect to the valve l9 thus permitting its operation even though the valve i9 is substantially covered with coal.

The left-hand portion of the pit I2 is covered by a removable cover plate 32 which permits access for lubrication of the tail bearings of conveyor I4 in case the conveyor is left in position and not removed as it may well be for a long period of time in actual practice. The rails I will be supported by the usual railroad ties directly on the ground and the area in between the normal ties will be filled in with dirt or stone or other material so that as the coal is discharged from the car II a support for it will be formed by the road bed and the plate 32 as well as the valve III; that is, when the valve I9 has its adjustable plate 24 in valve closing position in which case the left end thereof as seen in Fig. 4 abuts the stop 33, the coal discharged from the car I I is supported on a support formed by the ground, the plate 32, the plates 2| and 22 and the plate 24. By adjusting the plate 24 under the control of hand wheel 3|, it is evident that the coal thus supported and particularly the coal between the tracks I0 may be discharged to the receiving portion l5 of the elevating conveyor I4 at a controlled rate.

It may be stated that in general the coal will be discharged from car I I between rails I0 though of course'there will be some spillage outside said rails; 'It is to "be particularly noted that by virtue 'of my system and method, no feeding conveyor is necessary, but the material flows by gravity-until it .is received'by conveyor I4 and thus a single conveyor is required to transfer the coal from the car -I I to "the truck I 1.

In the operation of the "material unloading system of :myinvention, the coal is discharged from the hopper type open or gondola cars I I onto a support and principally between the rails at a position above the :pit t2, the support constituting largely thevalve I9 though also includingzplate32 and possibly a part of the road bed or ground; alsoincluding some cross ties which support therailsln. The conveyor I4 will be in the position illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings asis the truckI I which-of course will initially be :normallyempty.

As the coal isdischarged from the-carwII by which it flows under the influence of gravity, the rate of feed of-the coal-tothe conveyor 14 is controlled bythe valve 49, including particularly the adjustable horizontal slide :plate 24 by which the feed rate to the conveyor I4 will be adjusted so as to do no harm to the tall flights thereof which are employed because of the necessary elevation of the coal for discharging into the truck II.

There will be a minimum loss of spillage over the guide plates I6 because of their close association with the side Walls I3 of the pit I2. After the truck I! is loaded the feed to the conveyor I4 may be shut 01f by closing the valve I9, and this may be done even though the plates 2|, 22 and 24 are substantially covered with coal by virtue of the remotely operable hand wheel 3 I There is another important feature of the slide valve I 9. It is to be noted that this slide valve in efiect forms a part of the road bed. The railroad companies are very careful in granting permits to place pits under their rails because of the danger to persons that may be Walking along the road bed, it being a notorious fact that small boys like to walk along railway road beds and an open pit is always a hazard for them as well as others who do likewise. The valve I9 is a very important safety factor because when there is no car II above the pit, the plate 24 is adjusted to its completely closed position and this makes it impossible for anyone walking along the road bed to fall into the pit I2. For this reason the valve I9 is useful not only when a coal car I I i to be emptied but is useful when there is no coal car II on the tracks I0 above the pit I2.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claim hereto appended, and I therefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

Apparatus of the class described comprising car rails, a pit below said rails, means for supporting material discharged from a car between said rails, including a control valve adapted to control the discharge of material fromsaid supporting means to said pit'comprising a stationary :plate extending between said rails and a movable plate also extending between said rails which when moved 'tovalve opening position forms a substantially continuous opening from one rail to the other.

FRANK DE YOUNG. 

